By Tom Schweich
One of Golden’s smallest open spaces, just over 1/3 acre in size, is on the top of a small hill at the south end of the public vehicle access on Illinois Street, across from Harmony Village.
The acquisition of this city land in 2003 was spearheaded by the residents of Harmony village who recognized the unique 360 degree scenic views from the top of the knoll. The resident group was able to get the Parfet Subdivision housing developer to offer the parcel at market value to the city and the Harmony Village residents contributed landscaping improvements. The city built a trail to the top of the hill that loops through the golf course. Adding the trail area to the open space yields an open space of about ¾ of an acre.
Visitors who look carefully will find a sign at the top of the hill identifying it as Galactic Point. This sign was placed there in memory of a former Harmony Village resident who was very involved in the early history of the open space and liked to apply that name to the hill.
South Illinois Open Space is located just east of the actively mined area of what used to be the Rockwell Clay Mine, operated by the Parfet Family. The former mine is now the Fossil Trace golf course.
No formal vegetation assessment of this open space has been conducted. Walking through the area, there is a mix of native and non-native grasses, with some planted shrubs and small trees. There are several Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.), which are native to Golden but planted on this little hill. There are also several shrubs of apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa) which is native to Colorado, but not Golden.
Residents report seeing the Golden elk herd in the winter as well as coyotes and some birds. There is enough elk sign (You know what that is!) to show that the elk pass through and, perhaps, stop for a short time. However, there is neither enough space nor vegetative cover for larger mammals to stay here for long. On the other hand, there are probably small mammals, such as rabbits, mice, or voles in the more vegetated areas.
There are four benches in South Illinois Open Space, and it is far enough from US Highway 6 to mute the highway noise. The knoll is above the roof tops of some nearby homes, which allows for views of the Foothills, and North and South Table Mountains. As reported by the residents, the site is a good place to view the night sky.
More information about the history of South Illinois Open Space and the history of clay mining nearby is available from Anderson & Haseman (2021) and Stewards of Golden Open Space (2019), below.
References
Anderson, Donna S and Paul B. Haseman. (2021) Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado, pub. Golden, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.25676/11124/14162
Stewards of Golden Open Space. 2019-2024. Additional Locations. https://stewardsofgolden.org/additional-locations
